HELL IN A (red) CELL 2018

[Frank Ocean]

59 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

It's alright, dude. Like, I feel that most of us were on the same wavelength in events like Triplemania and even All-In, and I get not being satisfied with a product, or having the feeling that it doesn't appeal to what you enjoy - it is alienating.

The upside is that we are living in an age where we have more options than ever. Not only we got access to old stuff, but companies like NOAH, AJPW and BJW offer different approaches to NJPW, which would be the "mainstream" alternative, and US indie wrestling is looking healthy and revealing new, insteresting stars.

Don't feel bad about not enjoying it, my dude. If anything, that would make the discovery of something that you do enjoy even more gratifying.

pwo needs more bjw and dragon gate disscussionand reviews to truely and really make a better site. Hear that loss.

[SmartMark15]

3 minutes ago, Frank Ocean said:

pwo needs more bjw and dragon gate disscussionand reviews to truely and really make a better site. Hear that loss.

You can always feel free to post in the match discussion threads and wrestling threads as well. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the matches that we do already have up on here. I know a bunch of guys looked at a lot of BJW stuff from 2000 recently.

[Loss]

8 minutes ago, Frank Ocean said:

pwo needs more bjw and dragon gate disscussionand reviews to truely and really make a better site. Hear that loss.

Point taken. You won't be part of that, though. Sorry but you had to go.

[EricR]

I thought the show overdelivered. I really liked the mixed tag (even if the finish was weakly executed) and really liked Bliss/Ronda. The tag match I was dreaded actually ended up being a fun southern tag, and there were enough unique or memorable moments that made the show stand out more than most. 

[EricR]

thank god lmao

[Johnny Sorrow]

I loved this show. It's funny that it was the Hell in a Cell show, and my favorite matches weren't the HITC matches, but there ya go.

[Johnny Sorrow]

3 hours ago, C.S. said:

I'm sincerely glad one of us did.

I honestly don't even know why I watch anymore.

 

Then don't . I used to watch The Simpsons religiously for years. When I stopped liking it I stopped watching it, and told no one.

[El-P]

This has been great. The thread I mean. Between KawadaSmile going bonkers for everything, Thread Killer being a snarky mofo and then some, you guys almost make me want to watch some of this one. The main-event sounds like classic hilariously awful match. Cosplay HITC bump & Lesnar showing up (seriously, he's like a venereal disease, he's never going away). Damn...

[cm funk]

What bothered me about the finish is that Brock F-5's Roman onto Braun.......why not have the ref come down and count 3 with the unconscious Roman pinning the unconscious Braun?!!?  Gives you an actual finish with an out.  Brock is motivated because he wants to beat Roman to get his title back.....and in the process he screws Braun out of his MITB contract setting up a match with them down the line.  Why do the no contest fuck finish when you had a great storyline building finish RIGHT THERE?!!

I enjoyed the show overall.  Tag Title match was great, liked Orton-Hardy, liked the mixed tag and the womens matches.....nothing bad on the show and no long time killing segments.  Heat for Joe-AJ was hurt by following that hot tag match.  I actually thought the finish was really creative and well shot.....and before they even announced it I knew it was setting up for Melbourne.  I actually think it makes more sense to put the belt on Joe there to give that show a big title change.....and Joe is about as close as a "hometown hero" as Australia will have being of Pacific Island descent

[ColdStone]

Surprised nobody mentioned how they wasted the money in the bank cash in.

I think the main event was bad but I enjoyed most the other matches. Honestly I fell asleep during the main event. I made it to the point where they had a stand off for what seemed like 20 minutes but then passed out. Then I woke up with Foley talking. I rewinded the ppv. Saw the bump that Dolph and Seth did that was the exact same as Seth and Ambrose. Shook my head, saw Brock come out and just shook my head again. 

I think they are going to do a triple threat at supershowdown or whatever it’s called. It makes sense to beef that card up. Since right now it’s HHH and Taker as the main selling point. Might as well throw Brock on there.

This ppv was nothing more than filler for me. I did enjoy the tag title match though. WWE has tag team matches down at this point. They are usually the best matches on the card.

I think what makes me the most upset they had Braun win the case for absolutely no reason. They should have let anyone else win that match. It made no sense for him to win when he did and even less now.

unless they work the angle to where he gets his case back because the match ended in no contest, but that wouldn’t make sense cause the case was already cashed in. Who knows at this point. 

[FMKK]

10 minutes ago, cm funk said:

What bothered me about the finish is that Brock F-5's Roman onto Braun.......why not have the ref come down and count 3 with the unconscious Roman pinning the unconscious Braun?!!?  Gives you an actual finish with an out.  Brock is motivated because he wants to beat Roman to get his title back.....and in the process he screws Braun out of his MITB contract setting up a match with them down the line.  Why do the no contest fuck finish when you had a great storyline building finish RIGHT THERE?!!

I enjoyed the show overall.  Tag Title match was great, liked Orton-Hardy, liked the mixed tag and the womens matches.....nothing bad on the show and no long time killing segments.  Heat for Joe-AJ was hurt by following that hot tag match.  I actually thought the finish was really creative and well shot.....and before they even announced it I knew it was setting up for Melbourne.  I actually think it makes more sense to put the belt on Joe there to give that show a big title change.....and Joe is about as close as a "hometown hero" as Australia will have being of Pacific Island descent

I can see them throwing the belt onto Joe just to do a big title change at the Australia show but in reality, they should switch the title to Miz at Suvivor Series and run with him til Mania, when Rumble winner Daniel Bryan can finally get his victory. That seems like the most obvious and the most perfect way they could resolve that rivalry. I don't really know that you want Joe to be champ when he's pretty injury prone nowadays.

I can kinda see them transitioning to Orton for the next title feud though, assuming the Jeff thing is done and dusted.

7 minutes ago, ColdStone said:

Surprised nobody mentioned how they wasted the money in the bank cash in.

I think the main event was bad but I enjoyed most the other matches. Honestly I fell asleep during the main event. I made it to the point where they had a stand off for what seemed like 20 minutes but then passed out. Then I woke up with Foley talking. I rewinded the ppv. Saw the bump that Dolph and Seth did that was the exact same as Seth and Ambrose. Shook my head, saw Brock come out and just shook my head again. 

I think they are going to do a triple threat at supershowdown or whatever it’s called. It makes sense to beef that card up. Since right now it’s HHH and Taker as the main selling point. Might as well throw Brock on there.

This ppv was nothing more than filler for me. I did enjoy the tag title match though. WWE has tag team matches down at this point. They are usually the best matches on the card.

I think what makes me the most upset they had Braun win the case for absolutely no reason. They should have let anyone else win that match. It made no sense for him to win when he did and even less now.

unless they work the angle to where he gets his case back because the match ended in no contest, but that wouldn’t make sense cause the case was already cashed in. Who knows at this point. 

The fact that the did that AND did the fuck finish thing to get out of Corbin's money in the bank match is a sign that even they know it's a cumbersome and overplayed booking device. If only they retired it for 5 years or so instead of sticking religiously to the gimmick-by-calendar format.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Yeah, I would be fine if MITB and HIAC were both retired for a while.  I’d be even more fine if Brock Lesnar retired forever.

[El-P]

Since I'll probably watch that Evolution#STEPHYRULES show, I figured I was gonna get back into the groove by watching the two women matches.

Well, Becky vs Charlotte was sloppy as fuck early on. It eventually got better and developed into a pretty good match, but it was clearly nothing special. Especially with a totally fucked up dynamic. So, since Mania, WWE managed to turn Charlotte into Roman Reigns. This is a joke, right ? Vince should be put to pasture, he's completely out of his mind. Charlotte is wasted in this role. Everything about her still screams "heel". The crowd popping huge for heel Becky winning was yet another case of "here goes your tone deaf booking".

Ronda vs Bliss was much, much better I thought. No idea where the hatred for Bliss comes from, she's still a terrific heel and a super solid worker. People bitching about the audience "not playing along" should ask themselves why Bliss always gets the "right" reaction. And Ronda is ridiculously good for her experience. And so, she can also sell right ? Very good match, kinda fun bullshit with the entourage. Hopefully they don't waste Ronda by making her do stupid stuff, because she's a diamond in the rough.

I just watched the ending of the HIAC match (that red cage hurts the eyes). Funny as hell how the cosplay bump didn't get a big chant while Lesnar did. And hell, he looks small ! I guess the MMA Wellness program is a bit more strict... Anyway, Lesnar is the smartest pro-wrestler ever. The ratio work/money is absurd at this point. 

[Strummer]

Dave says Brock is going to wrestle at the next Saudi show

[Mad Dog]

I think with Joe/Styles they need to have Styles wife throw the towel in to save him and cost him the title. Then you get a nice layer to their storyline. That's what I would have done here but I don't think they are creative enough to go for that. 

[Loss]

The challenge would be to do it in a way where Wendy Styles doesn't become a heel, similar to how WWE had to walk that line very carefully to make sure they didn't turn Helen Hart in 1994. The problem with Brock is that they'll never do a segment where Reigns actually leaves him laying, without luck breaking his way or The Shield helping him or something. And that might actually go a long way.

[NintendoLogic]

I was half-expecting some kind of Starrcade 1996-style bait and switch where it somehow wasn't actually a cash-in. They could still do that. Like, Constable Corbin has the match stricken from the record books due to the Lesnar interference and gives Braun the briefcase back.

[Mad Dog]

45 minutes ago, Charles (Loss) said:

The challenge would be to do it in a way where Wendy Styles doesn't become a heel, similar to how WWE had to walk that line very carefully to make sure they didn't turn Helen Hart in 1994. The problem with Brock is that they'll never do a segment where Reigns actually leaves him laying, without luck breaking his way or The Shield helping him or something. And that might actually go a long way.

I think you just don't involve her much past that and have her say that it was her husband out there and she cares about his safety more than anything. Now granted, they have kind of salted the earth in sincere motivation. 

[cm funk]

51 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said:

I was half-expecting some kind of Starrcade 1996-style bait and switch where it somehow wasn't actually a cash-in. They could still do that. Like, Constable Corbin has the match stricken from the record books due to the Lesnar interference and gives Braun the briefcase back.

That would be incredibly lame given that he cashed in in advance weeks ago. 

That said, WWE does incredibly lame retcon shit all the time and make up the rules as they go, so I wouldn't put it past them.

[Loss]

I think I posed the question wrong in the other thread. Some things matter, but nothing has consequences.

[KawadaSmile]

Y'know, after rewatching some late 90s main events, the HiaC main event felt like a cautionary tale or even a loveletter to those nostalgic for the Attitude Era. 

While this did not reach the batshit insane levels of overbooking of something like Austin vs Dude Love, it was an eventful match with NINE people getting involved, and a non finish. Particularly, I enjoyed it, but the inclusion of Lesnar, even if it made sense - they hinted at it right after he lost it at Summerslam, when Angle said it would be "a cold day in hell" before he awarded Lesnar a rematch, and IIRC the commentators actually addressed that.

It might be bad that they insist on giving Lesnar time, but it doesn't seem like they didn't plan this storyline in advance.

[Robert S]

After this show I have one big question: What is "table's good, table's good" supposed to mean?

(1) Foley should be veteran enough not to shout backstage instructions in front of the camera.

(2) Even if he did screw this one up why did they not mute him (like Heyman was for the cursing later on)?

(3) And if this was no backstage instruction what else did Foley want to say? Was he cheering Roman on?

 

The red cell was fine, by the way, though next time they should not dye the mesh as well as this became a bit irritating as times.

[Loss]

He was reminding us that the table is legal.

[Loss]

The run-ins and non-finish weren't problems in and of themselves. To me, the bigger issue was that production completely lost interest in the Universal title match happening in the middle of the ring. What's a fan gotta do to get a split screen and keep the action in the ring and outside the ring going simultaneously? I thought it showed just how little they think of their audience, that they're incapable of following two things at once.

[Migs]

14 minutes ago, Charles (Loss) said:

The run-ins and non-finish weren't problems in and of themselves. To me, the bigger issue was that production completely lost interest in the Universal title match happening in the middle of the ring. What's a fan gotta do to get a split screen and keep the action in the ring and outside the ring going simultaneously? I thought it showed just how little they think of their audience, that they're incapable of following two things at once.

It also became another in a weirdly long series of moments where Roman Reigns lays there for minutes during a title match. I guess it's probably just that they use that trope now more and he's been in the main events in that time, but damn it feels like that dude is always on his back during his own matches.